Screw-cap fruit-jar.



G. STOLLBERG. SCREW GAP FRUIT JAR.

APPLIOATION FILED mm: a2, 1908.

Patented Aug. 19, 1913.

622127.- aug mzbe warren snare PATENT {a wido er stir/i 9 CHARLESSTOLLBERG, OF TOLEDO, OHIQ, ASSIGNOR TO AMERICAN CAN CGMPANY, OF

.NEW YORK, N. Y., A CGRPORATION OF NEWJEBSEY.

SCR-EJV-CAP FRUIT-JAR.

Specification of Letters Patent.

latentetl su 19, 1913 Application filed June 22, 1908. Serial No.439,686.

To'aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, CHARLES STOLLBERG,

a citizen of the United States, residing in Toledo, in the county ofLucas and State of 5 Ohiofhave invented a new and useful lrn provementin Screw Cap Fruit Jars, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in screw caps for fruit or otherfood preserving jars.

Heretotcre screw caps for fruit jars of the kind most commonly andextensively used, have ordinarily been made of sheet zinc, thecylindrical or substantially upright wall being internally screwthreaded to engage the external screw threads on the neck of the glassjar, and the flat or disk portion of the cap being lined on the inside-with porcelain or other vitreous material to prevent the fruit,vegetables or other food products in the jar from coming in contact withthe metal or zinc and thus producing injurious zinc or other salts. Asit is, however, the flange or lower edge of the screw cap which engagesthe shoulder of the jar and compresses the interposed gasket tohermetically seal the jar, there is arily always left certain amountoflo or free spa e, from an eighth to a quarter of an inch, between theupper edge of the jar neck and the lower surface of the porcelain orother vitreous lining of the cap, thus leaving a rim of the zinc exposedto the action of the acid, liquids or gases 35 in the jar; and in factalso the whole upright cylindrical or screw threaded portion of the zinccap is thus exposed, as such portion does not form a lig uid tightengagementwith the bottle neclr. While the por- 49 'celainlining at theflat or disk portion of the screw cap materially diminishes thedillicultics arising from the contact or" the food contents with themetal of the cap, it at best. but a partial protect-ion or palliativeand not a prevention, especially in cases where the fruit jars areinverted, as is customarily done to better insure perfect preservationof the contents; the liquid necessarily coming in contact with thewhole. screw threaded portion of the cap when the jar is turned upsidedown. To overcome this dlfllClllt-y, the screw caps are sometimes madeof glass or vitreous material, but they are expensive and liable to 55breakage, and also detective in operation as same time slightly flexibleor elastic oroitself to be injured by the interengagement' it is, verydifficult to secure a hermetic closure with certainty and reliability,owing to the unavoidable inequalities in the glass or vitreous cap. Andnumerous other methods or constructions have been made or attempted toovercome this objection, such, for example, as providing the jar with adouble closure, an inner one of glass or vitreous material having acement or other sealing means, and an outer metal screw cap closure toprotect the inner one and insure the hermetic scaling of the jar, butsuch devices add greatly to the expense of the. jar and also to thetrouble and labor of sealing the same.

The object of my inventionis to provide a screw cap closure for whichwill at once be exceedingly simple and cheap in construction so that itscost will not interr'ere with extensive use, which can be as readilysealed or closed the ordinary porcelain linednietal screw cap closure,and which at the same time will absolutely prevent any contamination ofor injury to the most delicately flavored fruit or other food contentsof the can from the metal of the cap. To practically accomplish thisobject orresult, and here-in my invention consists, I employ a screw capof tin plate, and pro vide not only its disk portion, but also itsupright cylindrical or screw threaded portion with an e'grtremely thin,hard, dry, solid, firmly adherent, impervious, insoluble, innocuous,tasteless and odorless, and'at the tective coating, so that the wholeinterior surface of the sheet metal cap, the screw threaded portion, aswell as the disk portion thereof will be fully protected, the thinness,hardness and elasticity of the coating enabling it to extend over thescrew'threaded portion of the cap without interfering in 1 any way withthe action of the screw threads or causing the protective coating of thescrew threads on the jar neck and on the cap. This thin, solid, hard,dry, firmly adherent, tasteless,-odorless, innocuous, insoluble andimpervious protective coating is also preferably extended over theexterior surface of the tin plate screw cap as well as its interiorsurface, and it is preferably applied while-the tin plate sheet'fromwhich the screw caps are formed is in the flat. This sanitary protectivecoating may \(lzlFll is zuhlcil a snitahle volatile solvent or reilnue".such. for example, as henzin or tn"- pt-ntino in quantity nw-essmy, nialto which nan aiso he :Hltlttl a trace of any (lesireil pieiuent ori-oloring matter, as for rxruuple, asphahiun. "this sanitary prom-tire-02 ine' nhi -h i not herein g-lainu'il as a novel inn is pre'lerahlyapplieil to the tin plate she ts in the llttl in a liquiil torn] and ina thin lihn exieuilinn' orer the entire sur tau-e of the sheets on hothsiilcs Hl'ltl then the sheets are preterahly )Hlfltl in a suit-- hle ownto! a period of ahout three hours t a n-niperntine ol' about threellltlltll'ctl (lerc-rx Fahrenlnrit. thus ri nclering the pro tectivemating: pertectly haril. (li v fllitl ainl litii-l. adherent. After thetin late 1 I 1 1 sncet are tolls rcparml. the hlanlt's for the series;caps are rut therefrom anil pressed nI' itir'nieil in the required shapein.the usual manner.

in the awoinpanting Crawing {owning a part of this smr ilication.liigure 1 a sitlo elevation oi a glass fruit jar proriiletl with myiinprzweil sheet inetal or tin plate protective coated screw cap. Fig".2 is a vertical section on. line l 2 o't Fig? 1. Fig. 3 is a plan Viewof the Pap. Fig. 4- is an enlarge, (1 detail section of the cap. Fin. 5

is an enlar (l iletail section of a portion of the Htt-W cap toinrln'aie the protevtii'e c ating.

in the drawing. i represents a fruit J its HLi'h' hating: wtrrnal srrewt ireails 3 ainl a shonliler V lorinini' a seat )r the jlnsliot 5,jn'ei'erahly oi i-uhner or other elas tic material. The shee metal serewcap 6 t it'itttj-tl of tin plate having the enslonn arf; tin coating onboth si les oi; the socl shtct The screw cap 3 has a Hat; or i'lisliportion anil an tonight or cvlinih'ical por tion S furnished withinternal screw threaalsv 9 PM 1; (l or formed therein. anil anoutoatwlly projecting our-veil flange or iriin ill at its extreme lowerocl a'eto engage the shoultler or gasket seat 1 of the jar, and compressthe elastic gasket 5 thcrehetWe-en, an l thus eillntt; a hermeticclos'ln'e of the jar. The tin plate screw cap is provided on its entireinterior surface with an extremely thin, hari'l. (try, solid, firmlyadherent, slightly elastic. innocnous, tasteless, odorless; iniperviousanil insoluhle protective coating 11, which extenrha on the insiile oi.the cap not only over the tint; a (list; portion 7 thereof, hut also ownthe upright cylindrical or i i i l i ln'eailerl portion in tluAri-ot.and intho scr w threiuls 9 anti llan ge r .i it thvingz; to the extremethinness, anal hardness of this coating. itlltl its elassoren' t 'lulinq' 'i i l.

th'it y or fiOttlOlll from luittleness, i tinil hy experiment, that theinterengagen'ient ot the screw threads on the cap (3 and, jar anrl theturning of the one setYit such ails in respect to the other has notenilonc to crack tray or grind ott this prottwtire coating: on thescrew threads ot the metal eap. This protective coating l1 :lsopreterahiy extends over the entire exterior surhtce o? the c: pincluding the (lisl; portion, the ejlii'i- (lrioal portiozn the screwtin-nails i ain't flange 10. Tie outer proteetivc eoatingl addsmaterially to the life of the sheet metal or tin plate cap and. preventsall r isting or tarnishing. Giving to the extreme thinness of theprotective coating on the tin plate or sheet metal screw cap and itselasticity. altl'iough the same covers every portion of the cap hothinside and out, such coating; tlOLS not interfere with or tlcstroy thenatural elasticity of the sheet metal cap or otherwise preventit fromailaptine; itself to any irregularities of the jar or jar noel: to whichitis applied.

1 clai1nt-- 1. A screw cap for fruit jars tornieil of thin elastic tinplate and having; the min ng ing" portion of its screw llllltfltl andthe interior surface of the cap COVQLQtl with a hartl elastic. tough andprotective coating which is iuiaatons and insoluble overlaid upon thetin plate ann ii'npervious to the contents of the jiar and capable ofresisting the Wear on the thriatl, ancl adapted to form an elasticclosure along the screw tln ad, substantially as set forth.

5?. The eon'ihimitvion with a glass :truit jar having its ncelcIllltlilffilltfll with external SQIQW threads, oi a thin. elastic aheetmetal screw cap of tin plate having entire interior surit'accinclutlinp; its. screw threads, covered with a. thin. hard, elastictong'lji anrl piioteiitiro coating which innocuous an l insi'ilu'hleoverlaid. upon the tin and. firmly adherent thereto and. in'ipervious tothe contents of the jar and capahle 0t resisting the ir n r on the screwthreads, the screw thr amls oi. the thin elastic tin plate cap beingtflltlpttjtl to conform to the customary ir regularities in size andshape of the interengaging external screw t1l1ltl(ilS of the glass in rand cause the cap to form a herl'netieally tight closure for the jar,substantially as specified.

CI iiii-lllil l- S STO LLBERG. Witnesses ll. M. itlnnninf, lmin'.Animus.

fioptcs of this patent may he obtained for five cents each, byaddressing" the Commissioner of Patents. Washington, 22 G.

